RNC, the authority regulating web domains in Romania, could introduce a 25-euro duty for every domain ending in ".ro" as of 2002. The duty will be used for the maintenance of the database. It is estimated that the number of active Romanian domains will exceed 20,000 by 2002.
It is true that a series of such proposals are currently worked on, but it is too soon to tell when the duty is to be enforced, Victor Ciuperca, RNC (Romanian National Computer Network) official, told Ziarul Financiar.
"One of the options considered these days stipulates an annual duty per domain name worth up to 25 euros, but a final decision will most likely be made in April," Ciuperca said. "At the same time, the date for introducing this charge is yet to be set. The possible choices are January 1, 2002 or January 1, 2003."
The duty, whose amount is to be decided upon by RNC some time soon, will be paid by the owners of Romanian websites, regardless of the year they registered the domain name in question. At the moment, all it takes an entrepreneur to register a website is a $61 fee (VAT included).
The new registration fee could reach 51 euros/domain name as of 2002. "If the current regulation changes, the new charge will include the first two years following the registration of the website, and the contract will have to be renewed annually," Victor Ciuperca specified.
"The new RNC regulation will be in line with ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - the international web addresses regulator) provisions."
The authorities are also working on a new set of rules on the protection of trade marks, based on an initiative of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCTI). The rules are to be completed by April.
The new regulation thereby targets protecting trade marks, to avoid situations when the Internet domain of a famous company is registered by another company or natural persons, according to Ciuperca.
It is practically intended to fight cybersquatting (registering a web domain using the name of a trade mark held by a different company) by introducing filters for the registration.
Therefore, one will be requested to specify the purpose of registering a domain name. At the same time, the resale of an Internet domain will be prohibited. The regulation will become statutory by a Government decision or by an order of the Communications minister.
At the moment, registering a web address in the www.nume.ro (name) format can take up to five days, depending on how fast the clients pay the $61 bill.
The simplest way is to do access the www.rnc.ro site where an on-line form is to be filled. In a matter of days, the bill will be sent to the applicant (either a natural or legal person).
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
